Green Flash Palate Wrecker

Brewed By: Green Flash Brewing Co. in San Diego, California

Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from a 4-pack from Binny's in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Imperial/Double IPA, 9.50%

Tonight I'm going to flex nuts and drink some over-the-top beer. We're talking crush-your-mouth beer. The Green Flash Palate Wrecker is a ginormous Double IPA clocking in at 9.5% ABV, and packing 149 IBUs. Can you say "awww yeaaah."

Green Flash Brewing has only been around since 2002 and only puts out about 14,000 barrels annually, but they seem to be on the rise. Based out of San Diego, California, Green Flash Brewing Co. was founded by Mike and Lisa Hinkley in 2002 (in Vista, California). The company brews big beers, and focuses on premium styles and traditional styles with modern twists. The company describes their beer as "cutting edge." Since its inception, Green Flash has won a number of awards for their beers, and has already carved an impressive mark in the world of craft beer. For more info, check out their website HERE.

If you roll over to Green Flash's beer page, you can get some info on the Palate Wrecker. This beer was originally brewed for the Hamilton's Tavern 2nd Anniversary celebration. Hamilton's Tavern is a tavern based out of San Diego. According to Green Flash, the Palate Wrecker is the most complicated West Coast-inspired IPA they have ever brewed. The beer is apparently brewed by taking the brewery's IPA, and then mashing and sparging it with hopped wort. This thing is insane, using 6 pounds per barrel of Columbus (pleasant and pungent) and Centennial (floral and citrus) hops. This beer has been tested at 149 IBUs, and clocks in at an impressive 9.50% ABV. At 9.50% ABV, you have to imagine there are some malts in here along with the insane hop regimen.

Last but not least....BeerTutor.com has some beer statistics, including the 100 most bitter beers in the world. For what it is worth (in this dick-waving contest that is craft beer), tonight's beer, the Palate Wrecker, is the 24th most bitter beer on their list. That means there are 23 beers that are more bitter than 149 IBUs. So, this beer isn't even within the top 10 most bitter beers in the world, so no biggie right? Of course, I need to mention, the human mouth can only taste up to around 120 IBUs. I'm not sure if adding more hops/bitterness past the 120 IBUs changes the way the beer tastes given this limitation to the human palate. Hops do add acids and oils to the beer, so maybe a beer with 1000 IBUs will be different than a beer with 149. I don't know! That's going to be for another night. So let's crack this thing open and get wrecken' or reviewing or whatever.  

Green Flash Palate Wrecker

In low light, the beer pours a dark red/orange/copper color, with 3-fingers of thick, foamy, slightly off-white/copper head. In low light the beer is transparent, and has moderate carbonation in the form of small bubbles. When held to a bright light, this is a pretty orange/amber beer, with a slightly amber and foamy head. The head is hanging around a lot longer than I expected, with over an inch of foam still hanging out on top a few minutes after the pour. There's some nice alcohol legs, and the head is tugging on the glass nicely.

The aroma on this is very nice, and I was greeted to some aromas before pouring this beer (which is always a good sign). This is a sweet and pungent nose, with slight hop stickiness detectable in the aroma. I'm smelling a super woody citrus note; a super bitter grapefruit or orange note. I'm picking up really bitter grapefruit rind, hints of pine, and some floral sweetness. Overall, the nose is strong, but it isn't as assertive as you might guess for a beer with 149 IBUs (as I go back in for a second smell, I'm also getting some tropical fruit that comes and goes). 

Wow! I've already had a bottle of this, and this beer absolutely dominated my palate the first time around. You don't get hit with extreme bitterness right away, but as the beer finishes and lingers, you are left with SUPER woody and dry hop notes bouncing around your palate. This thing just dries your mouth out, and leaves you with giant grapefruit rind notes, super woody and abrasive citrus-like orange notes, and hints of sweetness. Up front you get a dash of floral notes and maybe tropical fruit; mid palate you get walloped with 149 IBUs worth of super woody and dry hops; the finish is woody, grapefruit, hints of spice, and huge drying. There's a hint of alcohol in the finish, and I can feel this warming up my chest. There are some bready/sweet malts in the mix, but they aren't doing a whole lot to counter that GIANT hop finish.

This is full-bodied, has moderate complexity, and giant palate depth. There is light to moderate carbonation, and it supports the beer well. The fact is, at 9.5% ABV and 149 IBUs, this is a sipping beer. Add in the full body, and the fact that this beer is sugary as hell....at 9.5% ABV, you know a decent amount of malts went into this brew. Add in the sticky-sweet hop oils, and you have a beer that is reasonably sweet. Fortunately, this beer is dry as hell, and ultra bitter, so it doesn't drink sticky or syrupy. Up front are some bready malts, some floral notes, hints of tropical fruit; mid palate is all wood and bitter citrus/grapefruit; the finish is lingering wood, hints of spice, and drying. If you like your beer dry and bitter, look no further.

Rating: Above-Average

This is a strong Above-Average beer, flirting with being a Divine Brew. Really, there is not much to complain about with respect to this beer. I like this a lot, in fact. It is beyond hoppy, ultra-bitter, woody, and drying in the finish. What more could you ask for in an Imperial IPA? Really though, at 149 IBUs and 9.5% ABV, this is a beer that will do you in for the night. I wouldn't drink this before drinking any other IPA-style beers. The extreme hoppiness impacts your palate very similarly to the way that eating a bunch of spicy peppers does. Having said that, this is an incredibly fun and an incredibly extreme beer. Is this worth trying? Of course...if you like hops. With that said, cheers, and don't drink and Dre.